If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Yep..I was right. This day did change things for all teams. Now Mayock is saying Barkley is a solid first round pick. This will snow ball with in the next 4 weeks. And the bang wagon is going to get a lot more heavier.

Mayock: USC quarterback Matt Barkley can 'step in and run a pro offense quickly'

Only five of the 60-plus passes Barkley threw hit the ground, with two of those being perfectly thrown passes which slipped through the fingers of Woods and Byrd, respectively."I was impressed by the number of passes [Barkley] threw today," said St. Louis general manager Les Snead. "Since he was injured to end his career, this was his recital. It was an overall very good day for him."Snead was one of three general managers on hand. Chicago's Phil Emery and Jacksonville'sDavid Caldwell also attended.Caldwell was one of several representatives from the Jaguars, including senior vice president Tony Khan, head coach Gus Bradley and offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch.While Jacksonville sent a large contingent to the workout, only one scout was on hand for the Arizona Cardinals. The Buffalo Bills, an organization that has been quite transparent in its plans to draft a quarterback, were conspicuous in their apparent absence from the workout.Although they rate well below what is ascertained in game films, Pro Day workouts do have value. Unlike during a game in which there are multiple moving parts which can distract the eye, scouts are allowed to stand on the sideline and simply focus on the quarterback's throwing motion, gauge his velocity and read the expression on his face from snap to snap.Putting Barkley's workout in perspective is critical to understanding what impact it might have on his landing spot on draft day. Scouts are as split on the quarterback rankings this year as any in the past 10 years. As such, Barkley's strong effort could lead to a significant jump up draft boards.Barkley wasn't dynamic. Several of his deeper passes wobbled and he forced wideouts to adjust their routes a few times on in-breaking routes. However, the first part of his passing workout was into a slight wind.He was very impressive during the "quick game" so critical to the West Coast offense, demonstrating the efficient set-up and delivery and impressive accuracy when rolling out. He was particularly accurate on the wheel and corner routes, two passes considered among the more difficult throws critical to this attack.Barkley's workout wasn't as good as the one Andrew Luck had a year ago in Palo Alto, some of which was into a stiff breeze. He didn't show the elite combination of velocity and ball placement that Sam Bradford demonstrated inside the Oklahoma practice bubble in 2010.The Southern Cal passer, however, carried out quarterback guru Chris Weinke's scripted session with efficiency and impressive accuracy, overall. The workout was comparable to recent sessions by Jake Locker and Mark Sanchez, each of whom rode their showings to top-eight selections in their respective draft classes.Barkley's passing was the critical element to his day but he also boosted his cause by clocking between 4.92 and 4.97-seconds in the 40-yard dash at a solid 230 pounds. The 40-yard dash was the only measured drill Barkley participated in.That wasn't the case for his primary target, Woods, who shaved nearly a tenth-of-a-second off the 4.47-second 20-yard shuttle drill he'd run at the combine with a time of 4.38 seconds. He was even better in the three-cone drill, where he was timed as fast as 6.84 seconds after being clocked at a disappointing 7.15 seconds in the drill in Indianapolis.As impressive as Woods was in timed drills, he was even better during the positional drills, exploding out of his breaks and catching nearly every pass thrown to him, including a dazzling one-handed catch deep down the right sideline.Woods' one drop came on a deep post on Barkley's final throw against the wind in which the receiver simply lost his concentration.While the hype centered around the "skill position" players Wednesday, the big winner may have been safety, T.J. McDonald, who drew praise from Kansas City Chiefs' scout and defensive backs' coach Drae Harris, who, along with Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive backs coach Carnell Lake, put USC's cornerbacks and safety through extended drills."[McDonald] is an explosive athlete who is quickly able to take what we were asking him to do and apply it to the field. He's so explosive out of his cuts and covers such ground."McDonald, who measured in at 6-3, 213 pounds, led each of the defensive back drills. He caught every pass thrown to him, consistently using his height to his advantage by extending far beyond his frame to secure the ball.Reserve safety Drew McAllister also helped his cause with a strong effort during positional drills, showing similar ball skills as his more well-known former teammate.This wasn't the case for cornerback Nickell Robey, however, who dropped several potential "interceptions" in drills. Robey wowed scouts with a 40.5-inch vertical jump Wednesday morning but he didn't use his explosiveness when it mattered most, often leaping as the ball arrived only to catch the ball at chest-level or lower.It was a similarly disappointing day for USC center Khaled Holmes, who cited a strained pectoral at the combine as the reason why he was unable to lift Wednesday.Holmes characterized the injury as "not serious" but said he had no plans at this time to lift for scouts before the draft. He did say that he had a number of private workouts lined up in the coming weeks, including a workout on campus Friday with the Philadelphia Eagles.

With USC quarterback Matt Barkley not throwing at the Scouting Combine due to a shoulder injur suffered in November, his entire allotment of eggs landed in his Pro Day basket.

The good news is that he may be able to make an omelet.

Barkley completed 56 of 62 passes against a defense consisting of Manti Te’o’s late girlfriend and 10 of her family members. PerUSA Today, two were considered to be drops. The others, then, represented misfires by a quarterback who was playing catch with his college teammates.

From what I saw of the workout, several of the completions came in high, with the receiver have to extend his arms — and in turn to expose his midsection to a big hit from one of the Kukua clan. On at least two of the deep routes, the receiver had to slow down and wait for the ball.

“I thought it was a good day,” Barkley said, via USA Today. “You always want to be perfect, especially on a day like this.”
Barkley wasn’t perfect. And that may not be good enough to put him into the top 10.

A day after USC quarterback Matt Barkley completed 56 of 62 passes against the Kukua defense, the buzz isn’t entirely positive. Greg Cosell of NFL Films characterized Barkley as a fourth-round talent on The Dan Patrick Show.

“In the NFL, you’ve got to be able to make throws,” Cosell said. “Often in difficult situations against very challenging defenses.”

Cosell said that Barkley has an average arm at best, and that he’s not particularly athletic in and around the pocket. While Cosell acknowledged that Barkley could still be a first-round pick, Cosell said, “I think there are too many limitations.”

But what about the fact (as Dan mentioned during the segment and as Ross Tucker said on last night’s edition of Pro Football Talk) that Barkley was viewed as a consensus top-five or top-10 talent if he had come out in 2012?

“Consensus by whom?” Cosell said. “That was essentially media talk. We don’t know because how NFL teams would have evaluated him.”

All it takes is one team to evaluate Barkley as a first-round pick to make him a first-round pick. Perhaps more accurately, all it takes is one owner to insist on taking Barkley in the first round to make him a first-round pick.

We’ll find out in four weeks whether any team or owner feels that way about the next possibly not-so-great USC quarterback.

I would take Barkley over Geno Smith. Geno will get WAAYY overdrafted.

Teams need a franchise QB to win a SB so teams, at the expense of potential overdrafting will draft both of these guys with the hope that they turn into their franchise QB. I am willing to bet Barkley is picked before the Steelers pick essentially causing a domino effect for all players still undrafted which is a good thing for us.

But you are forgetting the most important factor here, Matt Barkley hasnt been able to work out or show up-close his ability to scouts and NFL personal. If he was healthy a month ago at the combine you would have seen him in many mock drafts as a first round talent.

For a player that had a "down" year Matt Barkley still threw 36 TD's, over 3200 yards, and completed 63.6% of his passes. Think about that. For a team that had an injured offensive line and had a horrible defense and had to play from behind in most of their games, that says a lot more to me.

As Mayock has already said, I didn't disagree - i said somebody will take him way early... I just think that's a mistake. Mayock is a "drills" guy - which is why he moved Cutler so high in the draft...

IMO, arm strength is less significant than these guys make it out to be... sufficient is sufficient. Once you cross that line, having stronger arm doesn't make you a better QB... Intelligence is a bigger factor differentiates QB... and not IQ, but, football intelligence... Throw in toughness and a pure desire to win... Leaf vs Manning to get the purest example... but, look at guys like Brees, Brady... those 3 are arugably the 3 best QBs in the NFL today, all have intelligence, toughness, "sufficient arms" and just a pure desire to win...

If I were gonna take a QB, pro day wouldn't sway me much... just saying...

I would take Barkley over Geno Smith. Geno will get WAAYY overdrafted.

Teams need a franchise QB to win a SB so teams, at the expense of potential overdrafting will draft both of these guys with the hope that they turn into their franchise QB. I am willing to bet Barkley is picked before the Steelers pick essentially causing a domino effect for all players still undrafted which is a good thing for us.

So would I if I had to... but thank goodness we don't have to because I think both are soft mentally. Geno doesn't seem like he has the fortitude to overcome when things aren't going his way.